Police Find Woman's Body Thursday Near I-45, Loop 12..A woman's body found in Dallas has raised the alert of North Texas police trying to stop a serial killer. Kelly Harrington was found dead Thursday near Interstate 45 and Loop 12. ..Police are looking into whether Harrington is a victim of a man they call the "truck stop killer."..Police in Grapevine are leading the task force made up of 20 police agencies, including some in Oklahoma and Louisiana...A string of women have been found beaten or strangled, their bodies dumped in grassy fields or creek beds beside highways...Two of the women are from Texas: Casey Jo Pipestem, who was found in Grapevine, and Tracey Figures, who was found in a Louisiana dumpster...The victims are all known or suspected prostitutes, including Harrington, who has a history of arrests...Although police agree there are similarities to her case and the others, they're not certain the cases are connected.

20040924: Police identify victim in serial killings

TX Grapevine

“Jane Doe”, found October 2003 under an I-40 underpass in Gray County, about 70 miles east of Amarillo, is identified at least: Vickie Helen ANDERSON (44) of Oklahoma City was last seen at a truck stop in Syre (OK) October 16, 2003. ANDERSON was identified through the state fingerprint ID system. .She is one of the core seven victims of a serial killer who preys on truck stop prostitutes from New York to California.

OSBI Says No Evidence Currently Links Lawson To Similar Crimes..A Lincoln truck driver suspected of beating and raping an Oklahoma City woman is a "person of interest" in a string of 10 homicides in six states, Oklahoma authorities say...While they have no evidence linking Carl Wayne Lawson to cases in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Mississippi, Texas or Arkansas, authorities said the case that lead to his arrest Tuesday is very similar. .."At this point in the investigation we have nothing specific to link him to other crimes," said Oklahoma City Capt. Jeffrey Becker. "We believe it's premature at this time to rule anything out."..Lawson, 32, is jailed in Lancaster County on a $3 million bond, charged with being a fugitive from justice. Lincoln police arrested him Tuesday on an Oklahoma warrant, which alleges he beat, strangled and raped a 51-year-old woman he met at an Oklahoma City truck stop on Sunday...Becker said prosecutors on Friday filed formal charges of rape, kidnapping and assault with intent to kill...Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said Lawson is a "person of interest" in the homicide investigations..."We're not holding our breath but we're certainly crossing our fingers that he is the guy," she said...Since July 2003, there have been 10 homicides and one assault that authorities suspect could be connected to Lawson's case...In most cases, the victims were prostitutes picked up at Oklahoma truck stops who were beaten or strangled and then dumped by the side of the road, primarily along Interstate 40, Brown said...Some of the women were found partially clothed, others were naked, she said...The woman in the case that led to Lawson's arrest told officers she went to a man's truck to discuss payment for cleaning tires and fuel tanks and when she got into the truck, the man locked the doors and began beating and strangling her...She told police she remembers her attacker telling her she could bite or scratch him, because "the first three, four I killed it bothered me, but I kinda like it now," according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant...Lincoln police searched Lawson's apartment and truck, seizing numerous items including several with blood stains on them...The woman said she passed out during the assault and woke up on the side of Interstate 35 near the Kansas-Nebraska border, according to court documents. She told officers a motorist stopped to help and took her home...Lawson told authorities that he had smoked crack with a woman at the truck stop, that they got into an argument over money she stole from him and he hit her, opening a cut over her eye, according to the court documents...Lawson will remain in Lincoln until he is extradited or waives that formal procedure and returns to Oklahoma voluntarily.

20040824: Lawmen enlist truckers in hunt for serial killer

OK Oklahoma City

Truck drivers nationwide are being asked to help locate a suspected serial killer. ..A composite sketch has been released of the trucker authorities believe may be linked to the murders of 12 prostitutes whose bodies have been dumped alongside or near Interstate 40. ..A sketch of the tractor the suspect is said to be driving also appears on the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) Web site. ..A witness who believes he has seen the man gave the OSBI a detailed description of the driver and his rig...Acting in concert with the witness, OSBI forensic artist Harvey Pratt came up with the sketches. This suspect, referred to by the OSBI as a "person of interest," is described as a black man, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 120 pounds. He is 25 to 35 years old and speaks with a Jamaican accent. Both of his upper-front teeth are gold-capped...The witness said the man is driving a banana-yellow truck, possibly a Peterbilt. The suspect was driving such a truck when one of his victims, Taddemika McHenrey, 25, was last seen entering only hours before her body was discovered in a rest area along I-40 near Hydro, Okla. ..Oklahoma and Mississippi authorities are investigating the possibility that the suspect's latest victim was Misty Ann Nelson, 25, of Memphis, Tenn. Her body was found Aug. 12 near the Myrtle Exit of U.S. Highway 78 at New Albany, Miss. Nelson had been strangled and her body dumped in knee-high grass along an embankment...The drawings of the rig show a Tasmanian Devil decal on the side of the vehicle in two different spots -- underneath the sleeper and on the side of the hood...Others who say they have seen the truck describe as having a chrome grill, side tanks and twin stacks. It reportedly has amber-colored lights covering its top and running along each side. The OSBI is hoping someone will write down the rig's license and Department of Transportation numbers and call the OSBI hotline at (800) 522-8017. The OSBI and other law enforcement agencies nationwide have received some 500 tips total during the investigation...

20040820: Friends Remember Woman Thought To Be Slain By Serial Killer

OK Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY -- While law enforcement officials across the country continued to scour interstate highways for a possible serial killer Friday, two metro-area friends were mourning the loss of a woman who investigators believe was the killer's last victim in Oklahoma...Taddemika McHenrey, 26, was found dead at a rest stop on Interstate 40 near Hydro two weeks ago. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation announced shortly after her body was found that her death is connected to a string of more than 10 killings in five states....Police and state investigators say McHenrey, like the other women who were killed, was a prostitute who sometimes worked at truck stops. Between November 2002 and July 2004, Oklahoma City police arrested McHenrey nine times -- mostly on prostitution charges...But McHenrey's friends remember someone completely different...Eyewitness News 5's Kimberly Lohman spoke to several friends who McHenrey left behind. They said that the word "prostitute" is not one they use to refer to a woman who they consider to be a dear friend...Ebony Henderson and Tiffany Geretta knew only one side of "Meka," as they called her. The two met McHenrey when all were working in an assisted living center in the Oklahoma City area..."She was real loving to the residents … made them laugh, brightened up their day, that kind of thing," Henderson said...Outside of work, Henderson and Geretta spent time with McHenrey and her two young children. But both said they were shocked to find out that their friend was stabbed to death along the interstate...Geretta said she was saddened by the way McHenrey died and shocked to learn the way she lived..."To hear this … we're like, 'Are they sure they have the right person?'" Geretta said. "She never exposed anything like that at work. She was totally opposite."..Both women said they never knew McHenrey had turned to prostitution. However, both said that fact would not change the memories they have of their friend..."How I feel about it is that (it's) something she was doing that was her business," Henderson said. "She's still a person, and people still love her … so that doesn't really matter … I don't want her to be remembered as a prostitute."..McHenrey's two children are now living with their grandmother. Her funeral was held last week in Tulsa...Meanwhile, the OSBI is still searching for the man who they believe is responsible for McHenrey's death and perhaps the deaths of as many as 11 others...Investigators describe the suspect as a black man with a Jamaican accent who has gold-plated front teeth. The man may be driving a yellow semitrailer with a Tasmanian Devil decal on the cab.

Mississippi authorities say the death of an unidentified woman found strangled off a county road may be linked to a series of deaths of prostitutes last seen at truck stops..The woman's body was found Thursday near the Myrtle exit on U.S. 78...The victim is described as a white female between the ages of 35 and 40. Authorities believe the body had been on the side of the road no more than 24 hours. Tattoos on the body may lead to a positive identification...Lafayette County investigators were called in to investigate the possibility that the case might be tied to the prostitute killings. Authorities believe the killings of more than 10 prostitutes in Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas are linked..In the slayings, the victims were either strangled or killed by a blow to the head, and their bodies were usually thrown to the side of a major roadway. Many of the women were last seen at truck stops...Oklahoma authorities said Thursday that they are searching for a man described as a black male between 25 and 35 years old and banana-yellow tractor-trailer..A composite sketch of the man and a computer-generated drawing of the truck were released.

Union County authorities say they haven't ruled out the possibility the death of an unidentified woman found strangled off a county road is linked to what law enforcement believes is a serial killer preying on prostitutes at truck stops...Union County Sheriff Tommy Wilhite said his office received a call around 5:15 p.m. Thursday about a body found off County Road 7 near the Myrtle exit on U.S. 78...The victim is described as a white female between the ages of 35 and 40. Authorities believe the body had been on the side of the road no more than 24 hours...Wilhite said he hopes tattoos on the body will lead to a positive identification...There are no suspects in the killing...Lafayette County investigators were called in to investigate the possibility that the case might be tied to a string of prostitute killings..."There are no definite conclusions. We haven't ruled it out," Wilhite said...Authorities believe the killings of more than 10 prostitutes in Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas are linked...In the slayings, the victims were either strangled or killed by a blow to the head, and their bodies were usually thrown to the side of a major roadway. Many of the women were last seen at truck stops...Oklahoma authorities said Thursday that they are searching for a man described as a black male between 25 and 35 years old and banana-yellow tractor-trailer...A composite sketch of the man and a computer-generated drawing of the truck were released. Authorities said the man isn't considered a suspect..

20040803: Anonymous caller - serial killer?

Detectives in New Orleans called the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to alert investigators that they received a 911 call on Valentine's Day from a man who told them that the body of a woman was located in a field. Police later found the victim's body, which has not yet been identified...Officer Marlon Defillo, of the New Orleans Police Department, said the caller told officers exactly where the body was located..."Clearly, this person gave very detailed information on where to find them," he said. "It would lead us to conclude (that) this person may have had knowledge of the killer or may have been the killer himself."..Defillo said his department now believes the body found in New Orleans may be connected to the possible serial killer. He said the evidence found at the scene reflects a pattern that has been seen before in Oklahoma..."The race of the females who were found in Oklahoma City (were) all Hispanics and American Indian females," he said. "Here in New Orleans, we believe (the victim) to be either Hispanic or Indian, (and) the positioning of the bodies were almost identical."..Officials in Oklahoma said all of the bodies found so far in the investigation have been positioned to resemble the number "4." The bodies have been found in states including Oklahoma, Texas, Indiana, Arkansas and Mississippi...OSBI has received possible breaks from numerous law enforcement agencies since investigators began cooperating during a February meeting in Oklahoma City. Investigators also met in Texas at the beginning of June...Authorities said they are carefully reviewing the developing details of the new case but have not come to any conclusions.

20040715: Police fear link to serial killer

Authorities are distributing a photo of a missing Bethany girl to law enforcement agencies investigating a possible interstate serial killer. .."We're not necessarily thinking it's connected, but we're showing it to people," said Jessica Brown, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. ..Ashley Marie Daniel Cesenas, 16, has been missing since Saturday. ..The hunt for the possible serial killer has turned up potential links to additional victims, Brown said. Earlier this month, representatives of law agencies from several states met in Texas and added three slayings to the list, bringing the suspected total to 10. ..Vesta B. Meadows, age unknown, was found June 11 near Harrisburg, Pa. Buffie Brawley, 27, was found March 24 at an abandoned truck stop in Indianapolis. ..The identity of the third victim was not released. ..Brown said investigators think the killings may be the work of a truck driver and commenced about a year ago. ..Anyone with information on Cesenas can call 789-2323. ...

20040714: New Developments in Serial Killer Investigation

Another potential victim is discovered - this time in Colorado. And for the first time - police tell us there may be two or more killers. .If the Colorado case - is linked - the number of victims will climb to over a dozen. At the same time - Grapevine police say they're getting some new leads - and using new technology to track potential suspects.....In Fountain, Colorado - not far from a truck stop south of Colorado Springs - police discover - perhaps the latest victim. Like the others - the body of a nude woman is found dumped on the side of the road.....In Memphis last week - police question a truck driver - after a prostitute says she saw a body in the back of his big rig truck. No charges where filed. .Increasingly Grapevine police are taking a lead role in the multi-state murder investigation - even appearing on a national news broadcast - over the weekend..Grapevine PD got involved - when the nude body of 19-year old Casey Jo Pipestem was dumped in Grapevine. Like many of the other victims - Pipestem was a prostitute working out of truck stops..Grapevine PD have followed up on over 150-leads - and are now convinced they're looking for more than one suspect.....Investigators - are now using these global positioning satellite tracking systems on the top of some trucks - to help weed-out potential suspects...Investigators also believe they now - know more about who they're looking for... And his background....Grapevine police - say they've received tips from as far away as California - and Florida. And one trucking company - has contacted them about one of their drivers - who may be a suspect..

20040712: Victims of possible serial killer mount

OK Oklahoma City

Officials ponder multiple theories..Investigators now believe that a possible serial killer working through multiple states may in fact have murdered as many as up to 12 women according to officials with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Even more alarmingly, officials are also toying with the possibility that there may be more one killer on the loose... "We don't have anything specific that says we are dealing with one person or three people," OSBI senior crime analyst Teri Turner said. "What we do know is that we are dealing with the same type of victim and the same type of crime.".. Most of the victims were prostitutes and many frequented truck stops. That and the wide distance between crime scenes prompts some investigators to theorize the killer may be a long-haul trucker. Six of the victims were either from Oklahoma or were found on Oklahoma highways. Several of the women have also been American Indians, including one woman who has yet to be identified. She was last seen at a truck stop in Sayre... A list of victims furnished by the Associated Press is widely believed to include the following, although some may not be related and other victims may not be included:.. • Vesta B. Meadows, last seen alive at a truck stop in Knoxville, Tenn. Her body was found June 11, west of Harrisburg, Penn., along the Pennsylvania Turnpike.... • Buffie Brawley, 27, last seen at a Flying J truck stop on the southside of Indianapolis on March 23. She was found March 24 at an abandoned truck stop along Interstate 74. She had been bound, strangled, beaten and run over.... • Casey Jo Pipestem, 19, of Shawnee, a member of the Seminole Tribe. Pipestem was Last seen at an Oklahoma City truck stop, found nude near Big Bear Creek off Texas 360 in Grapevine on Jan. 31. Pipestem was strangled.... • Patsy Laverne Leonard, 23, a prostitute last seen in Wichita Falls, Texas. She was found nude and strangled Jan. 1 in a creek in northeast Pottawatomie County, Okla.... • Sandra Richardson, 39, of Oklahoma City, was found at the junction of Highways 62 and 48 in Okfuskee County east of Oklahoma City on Nov. 22. OSBI reports she died from physical trauma. The body was unclothed.... • An unidentified woman last seen at the Flying J Travel Plaza in Sayre, Okla., trying to hitch a ride. Her body was found off Interstate 40 in Texas, 45 miles west of the Oklahoma border on Oct. 16. Cause of death not released. She is described as an American Indian.... • Sandra Beard, also known as Sandra Bates, age 43, of Oklahoma City, found along I-40 at the Tiger Mountain Road exit in McIntosh County, Okla. She was a prostitute. She died of asphyxiation and was found nude Sept. 18.... • Jennifer Hyman, 24, of Oklahoma City, last seen at an Oklahoma City truck stop. Hyman, a prostitute, was found nude and strangled, below a Tallahatchie River bridge near Oxford, Miss., on Aug. 20.... • Margaret Gardner of Memphis, Tenn., last seen at an Arkansas truck stop. She was found partially nude on an entrance ramp to I-40 near West Memphis, Ark., on July 11, 2003. She was killed by a blow to the head...

20040416: Another victim possibly related

OK Oklahoma City

As investigators work to learn more, the killer may have struck yet again. Brown confirmed that a prostitute found strangled to death March 24 in Hendricks County, Indiana, is “possibly” related to the case. Buffie Rae BRAWLEY, 27, was known to ply her trade from truck stops, just like many of the other victims. The circumstances of BRAWLEY’s death were brutal enough to shock police. Most of the killer’s victims were Native American. A passing motorist discovered the nude body of Casey Jo PIPESTEM, 19, on January 31 in the Texas town of Grapevine. Officials say she was she was choked to death, and then dropped from a bridge. PIPESTEM was a member of the Seminole Tribe.PIPESTEM was just the latest in a series of killings spanning several states and possibly totaling eleven women, although there is no consensus among officials as to an actual victim count. At least four victims were last seen at a truck stop, and at least three were strangled. Some were also sexually assaulted. The bodies were found near highways and creeks in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas, and now, perhaps, Indiana.Not all suspected victims of the killer have been identified. Police are still looking for help in learning the name of a woman found dead Oct. 15 in Gray County, Texas. She is described as an American Indian about 40 years old, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and 140 pounds. She had black hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a man's plaid shirt and tan slacks the day before at a truck stop in Sayre. Witnesses recall that she was looking for a ride.

20040402: Possible serial killer claims another victim

PA Pittsburgh

It appears another woman`s death could be the work of a serial killer who preys on prostitutes. Indiana authorities say the killing of a woman there is similar to a string of killings in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Mississippi. Many of the bodies werre found in creek beds, but, the semi-nude body of 27-year-old Buffie Dae BRAWLEY of Toledo, Ohio, was found at an abandoned truck stop northwest of Indianapolis. The man wanted for questioning in some of the killings remains in the Tarrant County jail. .Just last weekend 40 year old truck driver Clinton MERIWEATHER turned himself in to authorities. Following the arrest on Saturday, MERIWEATHER`s employers notified police they`d found in his truck, methamphetamines, pistols, handcuffs and leg restraints, fake police ID, women`s jewelry, and sexually explicit photos of women. ..23 year old Patsy LEONARD of Wichita Falls has never officially been linked to the killings. Her body was found in a creek near Shawnee, Oklahoma New Years Day.

20040402: Possible serial killer claims another victim

PA Pittsburgh

It appears another woman`s death could be the work of a serial killer who preys on prostitutes. Indiana authorities say the killing of a woman there is similar to a string of killings in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Mississippi. Many of the bodies werre found in creek beds, but, the semi-nude body of 27-year-old Buffie BRAWLEY of Toledo, Ohio, was found at an abandoned truck stop northwest of Indianapolis. The man wanted for questioning in some of the killings remains in the Tarrant County jail. Just last weekend 40 year old truck driver Clinton MERIWEATHER turned himself in to authorities. Following the arrest on Saturday, MERIWEATHER`s employers notified police they`d found in his truck, methamphetamines, pistols, handcuffs and leg restraints, fake police ID, women`s jewelry, and sexually explicit photos of women. 23 year old Patsy LEONARD of Wichita Falls has never officially been linked to the killings. Her body was found in a creek near Shawnee, Oklahoma New Years Day.

20040325: 4th victim of possible serial killer

PA Pittsburgh

Officials said Thursday that a woman found dead at a Pittsboro truck stop Wednesday died of asphyxiation. Authorities identified the victim as Buffie Ray BRAWLEY, 27, of Toledo, Ohio. Toxicology may be available in one week, officials said. Police said a trucker reported finding BRAWLEY's body in the parking lot of the abandoned truck stop off Interstate 74. Investigators said BRAWLEY was partially clothed and that her body showed signs that she had been tied up or restrained.An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday to determine the cause of death.

20040312: Suspect in 7 murders stabbed himself

OK Oklahoma City

Oklahoma investigators say a man wanted for questioning in the killings of several women apparently stabbed himself at a truck stop. One of the victims was 47-year-old Margaret GARDNER of Memphis, whose body was found in July on an Interstate 40 entrance ramp in West Memphis, Arkansas. The other six deaths in the probable string of killings were found in or last seen alive in Oklahoma. Oklahoma City police were asking questions yesterday at a truck stop when someone suggested they check out a truck that had been parked there for an abnormally long time. Officers knocked on the cab and say the man poked his head out of the sleeper compartment, then ducked back in and didn't respond. A sergeant says officers went in and found the man had stabbed himself. The case is being investigated as an attempted suicide. Police say the rig the man was in was reported stolen in Arkansas about a year ago.

20040228: Racist background?

OK Oklahoma City

Two of the seven female victims found along I-35 between Dallas and Oklahoma City since 2003 were Native American. Casey Po PIPESTER (19) belonged to the Seminole Tribe and was discovered under a bridge in Grapevine (TX) nude and strangled on January 31, 2004. An unidentified woman of American-Indian origin was found in Gray County (TX) on October 15, 2003. There are 39 tribes federally registered in Oklahoma. Sexual harassment cases occur 2 1/2 more often than average. Five victims worked as prostitutes mainly around truck stops. Two anonymous notes accuse prostitutes and pimps as "sinners". Authorities see similarities in the cases as some of the victims have been strangled, therefore they are searching for a serial killer.

A serial killer nurse who admitted killing 29 patients donates one of his kidneys to the brother of an ex-girlfriend.
Charles Cullen had threatened to skip his sentencing hearing if he was not permitted to be the donor.
In February, a judge approved Cullen's removal from prison for the operation.
Cullen's public defender, Johnnie Mask, says the kidney went to Ernie Peckham, 37, of Rocky Point, New York.
Mask tells The Associated Press, "They have not had a chance to speak" since the operations on Aug. 20.
One day after surgery, Cullen went back to New Jersey State Prison. Peckham did not return to his Long Island home for a few days.
The New York Daily News reports Peckham is married with four children. He is a metalworker and Cub Scout leader who was an Army reservist.
Peckham told The Village Beacon Record that his kidneys began failing after a cut on his finger became a strep infection.
Cullen confessed to using drug overdoses to kill 29 patients at nursing homes and hospitals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
He was sentenced to 18 life terms in prison.

20060822: Serial Killer Back in Prison after Surgery

PA Allentown

Serial killer Charles Cullen is back in prison tonight, recovering from his recent kidney donation.
Cullen had the surgery on Saturday.
The kidney went to a relative of one of Cullen's friends.
Last year, Cullen said he would skip his sentencing unless he was allowed to donate.
A judge agreed to allow the transplant and Cullen appeared before the victims' families.
He's serving 18 consecutive life sentences in solitary confinement at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.

20060321: Serial Killer Nurse May Donate A Kidney

NJ Newark

A judge clears the way for New Jersey's worst serial killer to donate a kidney.
If Charles Cullen and his doctors meet certain conditions, he may undergo an operation to remove one of his kidneys.
The Associated Press reports the organ would then go to the relative of a friend.
Cullen admitted to killing 29 patients in nursing homes and hospitals throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Prosecutors agreed to spare him from the death penalty if he identified patients who had been given lethal drug overdoses.
The judge ordered that the operation must be paid for by the recipient's insurance company. The state's medical examiners must also certify the doctors prior to the procedure.

20060320: Judge allows serial killer to donate kidney

NJ Newark

A United States judge has agreed to allow New Jersey's worst serial killer to donate a kidney, but the killer and his doctors have to meet conditions.

Judge Paul Armstrong did not say when Charles Cullen might undergo the operation to remove one of his kidneys to be transplanted into the relative of a friend.

Cullen has admitted killing 29 patients with drug overdoses at nursing homes and hospitals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in one of the worst murder sprees ever discovered in the US health care system. He has been sentenced to 18 life terms.

The judge's order, signed on Thursday, stipulates that all operation costs must be paid by the recipient's insurer.

Also, the surgery to remove Cullen's kidney must happen in New Jersey at a hospital certified by the state Department of Corrections, and the doctors who perform the operation must be certified by the state Board of Medical Examiners.

Cullen, 46, had tried for four months to reach an agreement with prosecutors to win permission for the donation.

His lawyer, Johnnie Mask, said the requirements made him "suspicious that someone in the Department of Corrections or at the attorney-general's office does not want this to happen".

New Jersey Attorney General's Office spokesman John Hagerty said the requirements reflect the fact that they are for "a serial killer who is not free to travel willy-nilly".

Cullen claimed to have killed 40 patients over a 16-year nursing career, and has said he killed out of mercy. Not all of his victims, however, were old or very sick.

20060311: Over Killer's Loud Objections, He Gets 6 More Life Terms

PA Allentown

Charles Cullen, a former nurse who committed one of the worst murder sprees in the United States health care system, was gagged with a cloth and duct tape at a sentencing hearing Friday after he began loudly repeating, "Your honor, you need to step down."
Mr. Cullen had maintained almost complete silence every time he appeared in court, steadfastly refusing to explain why he killed at least 29 patients in two states. During an emotional sentencing hearing last week in New Jersey, he sat quietly with his eyes closed as victims' families said he was a monster and called him "garbage."
But on Friday, facing another round of sentencing, this time for his murders in Pennsylvania, he infuriated the relatives of some of his victims by repeating his bizarre chant hundreds of times over 30 minutes, during which attempts to muffle him proved unsuccessful.
"I feel very cheated," said Walter Henne, a relative who showed up in court to address Mr. Cullen and had to raise his voice to be heard over him. "Our last trump card was taken away from us by the childish behavior of Mr. Cullen."
A judge ignored Cullen's outbursts and gave him six more life sentences.
Mr. Cullen, who was sentenced last week to 11 consecutive life terms in New Jersey, administered lethal overdoses to seven patients in Pennsylvania, and tried to kill three others.
Mr. Cullen had tried to avoid showing up at his sentencing hearings in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. On Friday, he told President Judge William Platt of Lehigh County that he was upset that the judge had said in a newspaper article that he was inclined to make Mr. Cullen show up at sentencing. Mr. Cullen then began repeating the statement and refused to stop.
Sheriff's deputies wrapped a white cloth around Cullen's mouth, but that did little to muffle him.
They added two pieces of duct tape and tried repeatedly to tighten the gag, but Mr. Cullen still managed to drown out some of the relatives and friends who were there to tell him the impact the murders had had on their lives.
"We think you are a total waste of human flesh," Mr. Henne told Mr. Cullen on behalf of the family of his mother-in-law, Irene Krapf.
It was not clear whether Mr. Cullen heard a word he said.

20060310: NJ serial killer to be sentenced in Pennsylvania

PA Allentown

A week ago, a former nurse who killed at least 29 patients was sent to prison for the rest of his life and confronted by his victims' relatives in New Jersey. On Friday, Charles Cullen was set to sentenced in Pennsylvania, where he was expected to again face relatives of patients he killed.
Cullen, 46, pleaded guilty to 29 murders and six attempted murders in both states. He escaped the death penalty after agreeing to help prosecutors in seven counties identify patients to whom he had given lethal drug overdoses. He will serve his sentence in New Jersey.
Cullen administered overdoses to seven patients at nursing homes and hospitals in Lehigh and Northampton counties, and tried to kill three others in one of the worst murder sprees ever discovered in the U.S. health care system.
Cullen was to be sentenced Friday in Northampton County for the 1998 murder of 78-year-old Ottomar Schramm at Easton Hospital. Although he does not have to be present at that hearing, he has been ordered to attend his sentencing a few hours later in Allentown in Lehigh County, where he was expected to again come face-to-face with his victims' families.
Last week, relatives of the 22 New Jersey victims confronted Cullen after he received 11 consecutive life terms, calling him a "monster" and "vermin." Cullen said nothing, his eyes closed.
Cullen, who claims to have slain 40 patients over a 16-year nursing career, has said he killed out of mercy. Many of his victims were old and very sick. But the judge who sentenced Cullen in New Jersey told him he "betrayed the ancient foundations of the healing professions."
Cullen was arrested in December 2003 after Somerset Medical Center in Somerville, N.J., notified prosecutors about questionable lab results involving patients under his care.
The case prompted lawmakers in both states to pass legislation protecting hospitals and nursing homes from legal action when reporting disciplinary actions taken against employees.

20060304: How can a serial killer escape the death penalty?

NJ Somerville

A MALE nurse who admits killing up to forty patients with lethal injections has been spared a similar fate through an extraordinary plea bargain in which he pledged to help to identify his victims.

Charles Cullen, 46, a loner with a history of depression and suicide attempts, will escape the death penalty in return for pleading guilty to at least twenty-nine murders and co-operating with investigators looking into other suspicious deaths.

Cullen says that he poisoned up to forty people with hard to-detect medications — usually the heart drug digoxin — during a 16-year career working night shifts at ten nursing homes and hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

He has told authorities, however, that he cannot remember the names of four of his victims and that he randomly injected insulin into intravenous medical bags without knowing which patient they were for.

Prosecutors in all seven counties where he worked have agreed to spare his life in return for his help in identifying all those he killed.

As the families of victims harangued him as a “monster”, “one pathetic little man”, and “Satan’s son”, Cullen was sentenced on Thursday to 11 consecutive life terms for 22 murders and 3 attempted murders in Somerset County, New Jersey. That meant that it would be 397 years before he became eligible for parole.

He is due to be sentenced next Friday for seven more murders and three attempted murders in Pennsylvania.

Investigations remain open in two other New Jersey counties, complicated by the destruction of medical records and the uncertainty of Cullen’s memory.

Cullen is one of the worst serial killers discovered inside America’s health-care system, but he is not alone. Since 1975 there have been about twenty cases of medical personnel involved in the deaths of patients, including a notorious 1987 case in which Donald Harvey, a nurse, was sentenced to life in prison for killing at least thirty-four patients in Ohio and Kentucky.

Cullen was fired from five nursing jobs and resigned from two others amid questions about his conduct but he always found another job, partly because hospitals kept quiet to avoid being sued.

He went on a murder spree in December 2003, killing 13 patients in less than a year at the Somerset Medical Centre in New Jersey. He was caught when hospital officials discovered unusually high levels of digoxin in the victims.

He told police after his arrest that he had targeted “very sick” patients for what he described as mercy killings.

The facts contradicted his claim. His youngest victim was a 21-year-old student named Michael Strenko, who had been admitted to hospital for a non-fatal blood disorder that required doctors to remove his spleen.

Cullen also killed a 22-year-old car crash victim, Matthew Mattern, who was in hospital with severe burns.

20060303: Serial killer nurse gets 11 life terms for killing patients

NJ Somerville

A nurse who killed at least 29 patients was sent to prison for the rest of his life Thursday after his victims' loved ones angrily branded him ''vermin,'' ''garbage'' and a ''monster'' who ruined lives and shattered their faith in the medical profession.

Charles Cullen escaped the death penalty after making a deal with prosecutors to tell them which patients he killed with hard-to-detect drug injections.

Cullen, 46, pleaded guilty to murdering 22 people in New Jersey and trying to kill three others. He will be sentenced later for seven murders and three attempted murders in Pennsylvania. He has claimed to have killed up to 40 people during a career that spanned 16 years and 10 nursing homes and hospitals.

He received 11 consecutive life terms at a tense hearing in which he came face-to-face with his victims' families for the first time. Wearing a bulletproof vest under his sweater, Cullen sat quietly as relatives wept and yelled at him from a lectern about 15 feet away. Some said they wished Cullen could die as his victims did, by lethal injection.

''I want you to die tomorrow so that you can meet God tomorrow because guess what? There ain't no door out of hell, baby,'' said Debra Yetter Medina, the granddaughter of victim Mary Natoli.

20060302: Killer nurse gets 11 life sentences

NJ Somerville

On the day New Jersey's most prolific serial killer received 11 consecutive life sentences, family members of his victims gave the former nurse a verbal lashing in court.

Some had waited years, and defendant Charles Cullen had filed court papers trying to avoid the confrontation.

One by one, for nearly four hours, two dozen relatives of the dead told a New Jersey judge what Cullen had taken from them.

Some called Cullen names -- "Satan's son" or "monster" -- and told him to "burn in hell." Others simply remembered their lost loved ones.

Judge Paul W. Armstrong then handed down 11 consecutive life sentences. Parole is out of the question, since Cullen, 46, will not be eligible until he has served 397 years.

Cullen has pleaded guilty to committing 22 murders in New Jersey and seven in Pennsylvania. He also admitted attempting to murder six people.

Deaths not mercy killings

Cullen administered lethal doses of medication to patients under his care in nursing homes and medical facilities. He claimed at one point that he was an angel of mercy trying to end his patients' suffering.

But the judge rejected that notion. He said the court "would not countenance the characterization of these crimes as acts of human compassion."

Cullen said nothing during the hearing, sitting beside his attorney with his hands in his lap and his eyes lowered. His lack of visible emotion seemed to enrage some relatives of his victims.

They had plenty to say.

Dolores Stasienko called Cullen a monster for killing her father, Jack Toto, whom she described as a hard-working farmer, mechanic and war veteran.

"Yes, I was the woman who coined the phrase 'Satan's son,'" she said. "You are Satan's son." Later, she told Cullen: "There ain't no doors out of hell, babe."

Richard Stoecker, whose mother, Eleanor, also was a victim, told Cullen: "Maybe you thought you could play God that day by injecting her, but she planned on living, she was a fighter."

As many as 40 victims

As part of his plea agreement, Cullen has been working with law enforcement officials to identify additional victims. He originally told authorities he killed up to 40 patients during the course of his 16-year nursing career.

Last month, when a deal to allow Cullen to donate a kidney to a friend fell through, he filed court papers seeking to waive his appearance at sentencing. (Full story)

The move outraged victim family members, some of whom have said addressing Cullen is an important part of their grieving process.

"He has to hear that we're human beings and that our father, son, mother, whoever, were human beings," said John Shanagher, whose father, Jack, was killed by Cullen. "Hopefully it will give us some sense of justice that it's, after all this time, finally done."

The judge ruled Cullen had to be present for victim impact statments and sentencing. Cullen will be allowed to donate his kidney now that he has been sentenced.

20060224: Serial killer must face victims' kin

NJ Somerville

Judge rules that killer nurse can't skip sentencing hearing

Serial killer Charles Cullen must listen to statements by relatives of his victims when he is sentenced for 22 murders, a New Jersey judge ruled Friday.

Cullen, a former nurse, had asked the court to waive his appearance at the sentencing March 2.

The move outraged victims' family members, some of whom said addressing Cullen is an important part of their grieving process.

"He has to hear that we're human beings and that our father, son, mother, whoever, were human beings," said John Shanagher, whose father, Jack, was killed by Cullen.

"Hopefully it will give us some sense of justice that it's, after all this time, finally done," he added.

Superior Court Judge Paul W. Armstrong also ruled Friday that Cullen will be allowed to donate a kidney to a friend after he is sentenced.

Where the organ will be harvested remains an issue. Cullen wants to have the operation performed in New York. New Jersey officials say it must be done in that state.

Cullen has pleaded guilty to murdering 29 hospital patients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and attempting to murder six others, with drug injections.

As part of his plea agreement, he has been working with law enforcement officials to identify additional victims. He originally told authorities he had killed up to 40 patients in the course of his 16-year nursing career.

Armstrong ruled Friday that Cullen "possesses no fundamental right" by law to be absent from his sentencing, when the court will hear statements by the victims' families.

Cullen had withdrawn his request, but the judge went ahead with a ruling to prevent Cullen from changing his mind later.

20060217: Again, a Serial Killer Plans to Skip His Own Sentencing

NJ PA

A carefully constructed deal between the authorities and the convicted serial killer Charles Cullen to allow him to donate a kidney to a friend in exchange for showing up at his own sentencing has fallen apart, his lawyer said yesterday.

The authorities had hoped this month to sentence Mr. Cullen, a former nurse who has confessed to murdering up to 40 patients in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Many relatives of his victims have been waiting for the day they can face him in court.

But that day, once again, seems far off. At a meeting yesterday, New Jersey authorities and Mr. Cullen's lawyer could not agree on the specifics of the kidney donation, and Mr. Cullen will now fight to skip his sentencing, his lawyer, Johnnie Mask, said.

"There is no deal now," Mr. Mask said. "We're nowhere."

Under New Jersey legal procedures, defendants can apply to skip their sentencing. Mr. Cullen initially indicated he would do this, provoking the ire of prosecutors and relatives of his victims.

But in December, Peter C. Harvey, then New Jersey's attorney general, announced that he had worked out a plan in which Mr. Cullen could donate his kidney if he agreed to come to his sentencing first. A memorandum of understanding was signed, and a transplant team at Stony Brook University Hospital on Long Island, where Mr. Cullen's friend is a patient, agreed to do the surgery.

But Mr. Harvey left office in January, after New Jersey's new governor, Jon S. Corzine was sworn in. Officials at the attorney general's office and in the Corrections Department have now decided that Mr. Cullen cannot leave the state for the kidney operation because New Jersey officials do not have the authority to provide security in New York.

Mr. Mask said that prosecutors had yet to come up with a viable plan for the operation to be done in New Jersey. Until they do, Mr. Cullen will do everything in his power, including filing numerous appeals, to avoid his sentencing, he said.

"We're not going to give up what little leverage we have until we know this kidney operation is going to happen," Mr. Mask said. State officials, he said, "have been throwing up roadblocks ever since Harvey left."

John Hagerty, a spokesman at the attorney general's office, said that Mr. Cullen's sentencing has been scheduled for March 2 but that there are issues that could delay that. A presentencing hearing has been set for next week.

Mr. Hagerty said state officials "continue to work with local prosecutors so the sentencing can proceed."

20060113: Serial Killer Using Loophole That Delays His Sentencing

NJ Newark

First, he wrangled a way to avoid the death penalty, even though he confessed to murdering up to 40 people. Then, he tried to dictate the terms of his final court appearance. Now, he is refusing to cooperate.

Apparently, Charles Cullen, a New Jersey nurse who confessed to sneaking into hospital rooms late at night and injecting patient after patient with deadly amounts of drugs, is trying to exert his last bits of leverage from a solo cell in the Somerset County jail before he is sent away for life.

His maneuvering is infuriating the families of his victims and delaying their long-awaited rendezvous in court. It is also making a strange case even stranger, partly because of what was, until now, a little-known legal wrinkle in New Jersey that allows defendants to skip their sentencing.

"Can't we just get this over with?" said Lucille Gall, whose brother Mr. Cullen has admitted killing. "This is a sick little game he's playing."

Most of the prosecutors in the case seem unfazed or, at least, they talk that way.

John Morganelli, district attorney for Northampton County, Pa., where Mr. Cullen admitted killing one patient, said, "I could go to court right now and get a conviction, with or without his cooperation."

But in Essex County, it is a different story. Mr. Cullen told investigators he thinks he killed five patients at a hospital near Newark. The problem is, he does not remember whom. Until recently, he had been meeting regularly with Essex investigators, studying old charts, peering into old photos, trying to jog his memory.

So far, Mr. Cullen, 45, has pleaded guilty to murdering 29 patients in New Jersey and Pennsylvania medical facilities. Most of his victims were old and sick.

After he was arrested in 2003, he agreed to help investigators identify all of his victims - he estimated there were up to 40 - in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.

But the deal began to fray last month, when Mr. Cullen announced he wanted to donate a kidney to an ailing friend. The authorities said he could do it only after his sentencing, which Mr. Cullen threatened to miss.

Many lawyers said that this was the first time they had ever heard of a serial killer trying to skip his sentencing. Earlier this month, prosecutors indefinitely delayed Mr. Cullen's sentencing, saying they needed more time to investigate the Essex cases and one mysterious death in Morris County. A few days later, Mr. Cullen struck back, saying through his public defender that he was finished cooperating.

"This isn't about a power trip, this is about a kidney," said his lawyer, Johnnie Mask. "Charlie's worried that if the sentencing keeps getting pushed back, it may be too late. He really cares about saving this life, ironic as that may seem."

On Friday, Peter C. Harvey, New Jersey's attorney general, said a new possibility had emerged: Mr. Cullen could be sentenced for the crimes to which he had already confessed, he could donate his kidney and then he could continue cooperating with the authorities on any open cases. "Our goal is to bring finality," Mr. Harvey said.

He added that prosecutors were mulling the options. If talks break down, there is an outside chance the plea agreement could be nullified and Mr. Cullen tried in court, exposing him to the death penalty.

What is giving Mr. Cullen his 11th-hour leverage is New Jersey's criminal procedure rule 3:21-4 (b), which says, "Sentence shall not be imposed unless the defendant is present or has filed a written waiver of the right to be present."

Mr. Mask and other defense lawyers say the law is on their side and that precedent upholds a defendant's right to opt out of sentencing.

Prosecutors, on the other hand, say judges have the ultimate discretion and can order sheriff's deputies to drag Mr. Cullen to court. Both sides vow to press their case aggressively, which only raises the specter of a long appeals process.

And now there's another potential complication. Christopher Bateman, a Republican assemblyman from Somerville, is pushing a bill that would force defendants to come to their sentencing. "It's only right that the families get to inflict a little pain, so to speak," he said.

But all the back and forth seems to be only compounding the pain.

"We want to know how Cullen, a criminal, a murderer, thinks he has so much power to decide what he can do and cannot do?" Tom and Mary Strenko wrote in an e-mail interview. "He is a killer and he has no right to decide anything!"

The Strenkos' 21-year-old son, Michael, was hospitalized in 2003 with a serious but curable blood disease. Mr. Cullen has confessed to killing him. "We are not giving up on this! No way!" the Strenkos continued. "It is as important to us as breathing air to have Charles Cullen once again look into our loathing eyes to personally see and hear the pain and suffering he has caused us for the rest of our lives!"

20060110: Serial Killer, Angry at Sentencing Delay, Stops Cooperating

NJ Newark

The New Jersey nurse who confessed to killing 29 people and has spent nearly two years cooperating with investigators decided abruptly on Tuesday that he would no longer help them.

The nurse, Charles Cullen, 45, was so upset about his sentencing being canceled last week that he is pulling out of a carefully constructed plea deal in which he had agreed to help identify his victims in exchange for not facing the death penalty, his lawyer, Johnnie Mask, said.

The authorities said that his refusal to cooperate could mean that prosecutors will seek the death penalty. It could also mean that many mysterious hospital deaths will not be resolved, leaving family members to forever wonder if their loved ones died naturally or were murdered.

Mr. Cullen has told the authorities he killed up to 40 people, many of them old and ailing patients whom he injected with lethal doses of heart drugs. But he did not remember all their names. So investigators have been struggling to identify them and, until Tuesday, were working closely with Mr. Cullen, sifting through mountains of medical records in the effort to jog his memory to determine exactly whom he killed.

The cooperation may now be coming to an end because of a kidney. In a strange concession to coax Mr. Cullen to come to his own sentencing and face dozens of grieving family members, New Jersey authorities agreed in December to allow him to donate a kidney to an ailing friend, as long as the operation was performed after his sentencing. But last week the authorities delayed the sentencing indefinitely, saying they needed more time to investigate hospital deaths in Morris and Essex Counties that Mr. Cullen may have caused. Mr. Cullen lost his patience, his lawyer said, and decided he would no longer help investigators.

"The deal is off," Mr. Mask said. "He's done. No more cooperation. Period."

"Now it's on the prosecutors' shoulders whether somebody else dies," Mr. Mask added, referring to the man who is waiting for a kidney donation.

Peter C. Harvey, New Jersey's attorney general, called that notion "ridiculous" and said it was not the prosecutors' role to find a new kidney for Mr. Cullen's friend.

"Our job is to protect the victims," Mr. Harvey said.

He also said, "It's strange that all of a sudden this guy has become a humanitarian after killing 22 people in New Jersey."

Paula T. Dow, the prosecutor for Essex County, where Mr. Cullen has admitted to killing several people, said Mr. Cullen's refusal to cooperate was "a clear breach of the plea agreement" and that "it now exposes him" to being brought back to court to face trial and possibly the death penalty.

But the reality of his ever being executed, at least in New Jersey, is slim because the state has not put anyone to death since 1963, and this week the Legislature passed a temporary moratorium on capital punishment. However, Mr. Cullen has admitted to seven murders in Pennsylvania, which does have the death penalty.

The authorities said on Tuesday that they were not sure if Mr. Cullen's action was a ploy to speed up donation of the kidney, or if he truly intended not to cooperate ever again. They added that they were unsure of what they would do next.

The development was the latest twist in a long case that began in 1987 at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J. Mr. Cullen had a history of mental illness and suicidal behavior and gravitated to the night shift, where he was known among colleagues as solitary and strange, with a cold bedside manner.

In 1993 he was accused of killing a 91-year-old woman with a single injection of digoxin, a powerful heart drug that became his weapon of choice. But somehow he slipped through the cracks of the medical system and went on to work at 10 places in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania before he was arrested in 2003.

In 2004, he struck a deal with the authorities in both states to plead guilty and cooperate in exchange for at least two consecutive life terms, which in New Jersey meant he would not be eligible for parole for 126 years. But in December, as sentencing approached, problems arose, partly because of a little-known procedural rule that allows a defendant to skip his sentencing. Mr. Cullen said he might do that and deny his victims' families a chance to confront him.

Now it is not clear what will happen, with some prosecutors saying Mr. Cullen will be dragged into court, no matter what, while others are not so sure.

20060102: Serial killer nurse to face the families of victims

NJ Newark

This could be the week that Marie Romero finally gets to look Charles Cullen straight in the eye and tell him how much pain he caused by killing her sister.

Romero’s sister, Catherine Dext, was killed with an injection by the former nurse and admitted serial killer in June 1996 at Hunterdon Medical Center, where she had been admitted with a ruptured spleen.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin Thursday for Cullen, who pleaded guilty to 29 murders and six attempted murders during his 16-year nursing career in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Cullen, 44, has told investigators he might have killed as many as 40 persons, but authorities say that estimate appears to be inflated. Most of the victims were given an overdose of heart medication, usually digoxin.

The former critical-care nurse was able to move from hospital to hospital, despite suspicions he was killing patients, because the institutions did not report their fears to authorities.

The sentencing may stretch out over two days because so many victims’ relatives want to give victim-impact statements.

Cullen had filed papers to waive his right to appear at his sentencing, a move that outraged many of the families.

However, authorities had something Cullen wanted: the right to approve his request to donate a kidney to a relative of Cullen’s ex-girlfriend. With that leverage, authorities persuaded Cullen to agree to appear at the sentencing.

Cullen faces life for each of the New Jersey murders, and won’t be eligible for parole for at least 127 years. In exchange for his plea and agreement to help identify his victims, he escaped New Jersey’s death penalty.

State Attorney General Peter Harvey said he hopes to have all 22 New Jersey cases against Cullen resolved in this week’s sentencing. However, the sentencing could be postponed if no decision is made on whether to also bring charges in several open cases in Essex and Morris counties.

He also escaped death in Pennsylvania, where he still faces sentencing.

A judge there already has ordered him to be present.

20051207: Serial killer wants to donate kidney

Former nurse Charles Cullen, who admitted murdering at least 29 patients in the Lehigh Valley and New Jersey by injecting them with lethal doses of drugs, wants to donate his kidney to save a life.

Cullen has asked prosecutors to allow him to travel to New York so doctors can perform the surgery, his attorney said Tuesday.

Johnnie Mask, Cullen's public defender, said prosecutors have agreed to let Cullen undergo the operation in New Jersey, but not travel to New York for it.

''I don't know what the objections are'' to doing the surgery in New York, Mask said. ''Security and expense have always been thrown up as an obstacle.''

Doing the transplant in New Jersey would mean a new transplant team and months of additional tests, he said.

In exchange for permission to give the kidney in New York, Cullen is willing to appear in court when he is sentenced to life in prison, Mask said.

''We're pushing prosecutors to do the operation in New York because the [potential recipient] doesn't have seven months to wait,'' Mask said.

Mask would not identify the intended recipient of the kidney, but The Star-Ledger of Newark, citing unnamed sources, reported in Tuesday's newspapers that it is a relative of Cullen's ex-girlfriend.

The man is in his 30s, a father of four and in poor health, Mask added. He lost kidney function as a result of infection.

Mask said the request for a kidney came about two months ago.

''Initially, some parties opposed the whole thing on the basis that Cullen could die on the table,'' he said.

Cullen, formerly of Bethlehem, had previously filed papers to waive his right to appear in court for the sentencing — an action that had enraged relatives of his victims, who want to confront him one more time.

At one point after Cullen's 2003 arrest, Mask said Cullen wanted to be able to explain his actions to his victims' survivors. But his position changed, Mask said, because the victims' families and victim-rights groups have been hostile.

By appearing at a sentencing, Cullen could answer at least some questions about his crimes.

Mask said he hopes to get an answer in the next few weeks on the transplant and any deal related to Cullen's appearance at the sentencings, which could come in the next few months.

Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest would not comment Tuesday on the transplant offer or the deal Cullen has proposed.

In a series of court appearances in northern New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley, Cullen has admitted to 29 murders and six attempted murders over the course of his 16-year nursing career. In the latest plea Monday, he admitted to attempting to kill Somerset Medical Center patient Philip Gregor in 2003.

There could be more pleas in the future, though authorities and Mask agree that the investigations are winding down.

Cullen was arrested in December 2003 and charged with the murder of a patient at Somerset Medical Center and the attempted homicide of another. The next year, he pleaded guilty and agreed to help authorities determine exactly whom he killed in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.

20051206: Serial killer admits another attempted murder while a nurse

NJ Somerville

Serial killer Charles Cullen on Mondy pleaded guilty to another attempted murder at Somerset Medical Center in Somerville, in what his attorney predicted would probably be his last plea.

In a proceeding lasting less than 10 minutes in state Superior Court, Cullen, 45, a former nurse, admitted before Judge Paul W. Armstrong to attempting to kill critical care patient Philip J. Gregor of South Bound Brook with an overdose of insulin on June 18, 2003.

"Yes, I did," said Cullen when asked by Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Van Hise if he had administered the insulin to the patient without a doctor's orders. "To cause his death" was Cullen's reply when he was asked why.

The answers have become increasingly rote for Cullen, who has pleaded guilty to killing 29 patients at hospitals in five New Jersey and two Pennsylvania counties and attempting to kill five more between 1988 and 2003.

"News of every heinous act he committed to a patient in his care still shocks and saddens us," said hospital spokeswoman Vicky Allen.

Cullen, shackled and clad in mustard-colored prison scrubs, was brought to the courtroom from the Somerset County Jail in Somerville, where he is being held pending his transfer upon sentencing to a maximum security prison.

He has appeared increasingly gaunt since his arrest and arraignment following a series of suspicious deaths at Somerset Medical Center in December 2003.

Compared with Cullen's earlier appearances, the courtroom was almost empty. although Gregor's widow and sister were present, they declined to comment. "When he's sentenced, I'll have a whole lot to say," said Linda Gregor.

Cullen's plea was part of an April 29, 2004, plea agreement in which he was spared the death penalty in exchange for cooperating with investigators in identifying victims. Investigators have since been reviewing files with him.

20050710: New Revelations about Convicted Serial Killer Nurse

PA Bethlehem

Nurses who worked with serial killer Charles Cullen at a Pennsylvania hospital apparently warned authorities long before his arrest that he was suspected of killing patients.

That's according to a report today in The Morning Call of Allentown.

But Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin says there just wasn't enough evidence at the time to prosecute Cullen for anything.

And the forensic pathologist who investigated agrees.The pathologist reviewed 26 cases of patients who died while Cullen was working at Saint Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem.

He says the only evidence beyond "vague suspicions" was medical histories of people who died -- but who were already very sick.

After leaving Saint Luke's, Cullen worked at Somerset Medical Center in New Jersey, where he has admitted killing patients.

20050520: Cullen tells AG basic security could stop killer nurses

NJ Somerville

The state's worst serial killer is offering authorities tips on how to thwart people who want to follow in his footsteps.

Killer nurse Charles Cullen met for eight hours over two days this week with state Attorney General Peter Harvey, who wanted to find out how to prevent future murders by medical professionals.

Cullen, who says he may have killed as many as 40 patients in New Jersey and Pennsylvania by injecting them with lethal doses of drugs, told Harvey that tracking who takes medications from dispensaries could prevent hospital workers from killing patients.

"He believes that the best deterrent is the certainty of detection," Harvey told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Friday's newspapers. "Using more video surveillance. Using a swipe card that would allow hospitals to easily track who is withdrawing what medication. These are security controls that can be placed on rooms that house medications."

Thus far, Cullen has pleaded guilty to murdering 24 patients and attempting to kill five others

The meetings Wednesday and Thursday were part of what Cullen agreed to last year when he promised to cooperate with law enforcement authorities in return for avoiding the death penalty. Harvey said he plans to speak again with Cullen.

"Once we complete our discussions with him, we are going to compile a series of recommendations that we're going to give to the Board of Medical Examiners and the nursing board with suggestions of how to better protect patients and hospitals," Harvey said. "We're going to ask for their input and action."

Cullen, a former registered nurse, worked at hospitals and nursing facilities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania over a 16-year career.

Harvey said the 45-year-old Cullen showed some remorse _ an emotion that he has not displayed in court.

"He accepts more responsibility than he expresses remorse, but he certainly does both," Harvey said. "I didn't expect it."

20050511: Siblings assert serial killer nurse murdered father

The children of a former Madison resident say they have compelling proof that Charles Cullen, serial killer nurse, killed their father with massive doses of digoxin in January 1997 at Morristown Memorial Hospital.

Lynn Popelka of Netcong and Wayne Sarrow of Readington Township paid to have the remains of their father, Henry Sarrow, disinterred from Saint Vincent’s Cemetery in Madison in February and examined, they said on Wednesday, April 13, at the office of their attorney, Anthony J. Macri of Denville.

Cullen, who is in the Somerset County Jail, denies killing the retired postal worker while he worked at Morristown Memorial from November 1996 to August 1997, according to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office. He has admitted to killing 24 patients, from 1988 to 2003, but none at Morristown Memorial, authorities said.

So far, Popelka and Sarrow have sued Morristown Memorial, alleging wrongful death and negligence, said attorney Macri, who added that he expects “a long fight.”

Macri said that autopsy reports have been sent to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, an office the siblings claim was unresponsive to past concerns that Cullen was responsible for their father’s death.

Autopsy Results

Henry Sarrow had been admitted to Morristown Memorial on Jan. 9, 1997, because of shortness of breath, and on Jan. 15 he suffered a fatal heart attack, which the family said was not expected. He was 77.

When Mr. Sarrow’s remains were analyzed after the February exhumation, they were found to have digoxin levels of 230 nanograms per kilogram, when a normal level should be 2 nanograms per kilogram, according to Macri’s office.

The levels of digoxin, a heart medication, found in Mr. Sarrow’s body were 125 times the amount that would be found in someone who was being given therapeutic doses, the family and its attorney assert. Such a scenario would fit Cullen’s preferred method of killing – administering overdoses of digoxin.

Mr. Sarrow had worked as a school crossing guard for the Madison Board of Education after his retirement as a postal worker.

Recognized Nurse

After Cullen was arrested in 2003 on charges that he administered a lethal overdose to one patient and attempted to murder another at the Somerset Medical Center, Popelka reportedly recognized Cullen from news photos as a nurse at Morristown Memorial during her father’s hospitalization.

According to attorney Macri, hospital records show Cullen was on duty during overnight hours before two cardiac episodes Mr. Sarrow suffered at Morristown Memorial, the second one fatal.

Cullen is reviewing records from hospitals where he worked, including Morristown Memorial, cooperating with authorities in exchange for a waiver of the death penalty. He is expected to be sentenced to multiple life terms in prison.

20041231: Serial killer spends time reading and doing “homework”

NJ Somerville

CULLEN scans medical files to determine if any patients were his victims.Life in the Somerset County jail is a little like life aboard the USS Woodrow Wilson, the submarine where Charles CULLEN spent months isolated in the deep waters of the Atlantic. In jail, CULLEN has limited space, a bunk to sleep in, and three square meals served with military precision. He has reading material, time on his hands, and no place to go: the cold steel walls of the sub (where CULLEN developed an interest in nursing by helping to inoculate his shipmates) have been replaced by the cold stone walls of justice. The only times serial killer Charles CULLEN leaves the jail is to travel to various county courts to admit he murdered patients at the 10 medical facilities where he worked in New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. CULLEN claims to have killed as many as 40 patients during his 16-year career. CULLEN has made five such trips so far, pleading guilty to killing 24 patients and attempting to kill five others by injecting them with various medications that he stole from the hospital's drug supplies. There will be others. In exchange for his cooperation and guilty pleas, authorities waived the death penalty and CULLEN instead must serve at least 127 years in a New Jersey state prison before he is eligible for parole. For now, CULLEN will remain inmate No. 71533 in the Somerset County jail, on the corner of Grove and High streets in Somerville and across from the prosecutor's office where he first admitted his deep, dark secret to detectives after being arrested last December.

Serial killer Charles Cullen pleaded guilty today to six murders and three attempted murders in Lehigh County, bringing the former nurse's tally to 23 deaths in two states...Whispering his replies to a judge's routine questions, Cullen, 44, formerly of Bethlehem, offered no details or excuses to the victims' relatives, dozens of whom packed the Allentown courtroom..."He took something away that was so precious to us and we're never going to forgive him," said Connie Keeler, of Bethlehem, whose father Cullen tried to kill..."He shows no emotion to what he did," she said...Keeler's father, Lehigh Valley radio personality Paul Galgon, 72, died of renal failure at St. Luke's Hospital near Bethlehem nine hours after Cullen injected him with the heart stimulant digoxin. Forensic evidence showed that the digoxin contributed to Galgon's death...Family members were not given a chance to address Cullen today, but are expected to have that opportunity at his sentencing, which may be a year away. Judge William Platt denied Cullen's request to be absent during sentencing, which won't occur until after Cullen is sentenced in New Jersey...Cullen has yet to meet with prosecutors in Essex County, where he worked in the burn unit at St. Barnabas Hospital for four years; or in Hunterdon County, where he worked at Hunterdon Medical Center for two years. His attorney, Johnny Mask, said it appears that Cullen did not kill anyone in Morris County, where he worked in 1997...Cullen has pleaded guilty to murdering patients in hospitals in Somerset County and Warren County, in New Jersey, and in Northampton County, in Pennsylvania. Usually, he injected overdoses into the intravenous bag of terminally ill, elderly patients. His youngest known victim was Matthew Mattern, a 22-year-old patient the burn unit at Lehigh Valley Hospital near Allentown...Cullen will be sentenced to life in prison as part of a plea agreement worked out with prosecutors in both states. He told authorities after his arrest in December that he killed as many as 40 patients in 10 hospitals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey during his 16-year career as a registered nurse. Prosecutors have agreed not to seek the death penalty as long as Cullen cooperates by identifying his victims.

A former nurse who has admitted killing 17 patients with lethal doses of medication at hospitals in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania will have to attend his sentencing hearing and face the families of his alleged victims in Lehigh County, a judge has ruled. ..Cullen, 44, is scheduled to plead guilty Nov. 17 in Lehigh County Court to six counts of homicide and three counts of attempted homicide. Families won't be able to confront him at the hearing but will be able to do so when Cullen returns to court for his sentencing, likely next year. ..On Tuesday, Judge William H. Platt told Cullen's attorneys that he will not accept Cullen's waiver of his right to appear at the sentencing. ..Cullen's attorney, public defender Johnnie Mask, said he was not happy with Platt's decision but does not intend to fight it. ..After his arrest in December, Cullen told investigators that he killed as many as 40 people during his nursing career. He has pleaded guilty or been charged in a total of 23 murders and has agreed to help investigators identify his victims in a deal to avoid the death penalty. ..The families of several of Cullen's alleged Lehigh County victims were pleased with the judge's decision. .."He needs to be there to face us," said Connie Keeler, the daughter of Paul Galgon, 72, a St. Luke's Hospital patient authorities said Cullen attempted to kill in 2001. "He should have to look into each of our faces and see the pain we are going through." ..When Cullen pleaded guilty to a single killing in Northampton County in September, the daughter of the elderly victim called Cullen a monster, talked about her father's life, and asked Cullen whether he remembered his victims. ..Mask said the hearing was hard on his client, and he would prefer to avoid them. ..In Lehigh County, Cullen is accused of killing five people and attempting to kill two others at St. Luke's Hospital in Fountain Hill, where he worked from June 2000 to June 2002, and killing one person and attempting to kill another at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township, where he worked from December 1998 to April 2000. ..In neighboring Northampton County, he pleaded guilty to killing one person at Easton Hospital. ..In New Jersey, Cullen has pleaded guilty to killing 16 people and attempting to kill two others at Somerset Medical Center and Warren Hospital. ..Under his plea agreement, Cullen will be sentenced to life in prison in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and will serve the sentence in New Jersey. He will not be eligible for parole for at least 127 years. .

20041030: Serial Killer Seeking to Skip Sentencing

PA Allentown

A district attorney said he is trying to determine whether serial killer Charles Cullen can be compelled to appear in court so relatives of the patients he is accused of killing can confront him if he is sentenced to life in prison...Cullen, a former registered nurse, is expected to plead guilty in the next few weeks to charges he killed six patients at two hospitals with lethal doses of medication. Under the proposed plea agreement, Cullen would be spared the death penalty in exchange for helping to identify his victims...Cullen already has pleaded guilty to killing 17 during a 16-year career at hospitals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey...Cullen has said through his attorney he wants to waive his right to be in court at sentencing...But District Attorney James Martin says he will do research to determine whether there is a legal way to force Cullen to appear. "In all my years doing this, I've never seen a defendant not come to his sentencing," he said...Margory Blakemore, daughter of Edward O'Toole, who died at St. Luke's Hospital in Fountain Hill in 2002, said she and other relatives should have the right to address Cullen face to face. "He should have to hear about how much pain he's caused," she said.. .